June 23, 2008

It may not be art, but I know what I like.

It's been almost a year since Roger Ebert responded to Clive Barker on the debate over whether games can truly be "art." In support of Mr. Barker's position, here are some of the most artistic moments from games in recent years - the tragic, the trippy, the Saturday mornings, the darkly comic, the downs and the ups, and the rare phyrric victory. [more inside]
posted by Navelgazer at 10:03 PM PST - 126 comments

Fighting the curse of the face-eating tumour

The Man Without a Face - "A Jehovah's Witness who for decades refused all surgery on his horrific facial disfigurement has been given hope by a British doctor and new medical technology." from the Telegraph.co.uk. (Possible NSFW or bad for the squeemish)
posted by blue_beetle at 9:28 PM PST - 78 comments

You've gotta hope / That there's someone for you / Strange as you are

A cat with no face is nonetheless loved very much. Let's be blunt, Chase the cat is a surprising creature. When she was only a few weeks old, she lost her face in a car accident. While this link isn't exactly NSFW by any use of the term, she is a disfigured cat - no face, no eyelids - and at first she's a little hard to look at. However, she is in no pain and she is obviously well loved and well taken care of. Chase is currently "employed" as a therapy cat, so that people can "feel just as great about themselves and realize that not everyone looks perfect and that is OK."
posted by Sticherbeast at 8:57 PM PST - 81 comments

Primal Quest 2008; sleep is optional

The hardest race you've never heard of: Primal Quest 2008 kicked off today in SW Montana. Using only a map and compass, teams of 4 have up to 10 days to run, kayak, mountain-bike, riverboard and climb over 500 miles of wilderness. Sleeping is not required by the rules. [more inside]
posted by dolface at 7:04 PM PST - 18 comments

Amazing Tree Houses

10 Amazing Tree Houses from Around the World: Sustainable, Unique and Creative Designs. 15 (More) Amazing Tree Houses from Around the World: Unusual, Ecological and Inspired Designs.
posted by homunculus at 5:00 PM PST - 18 comments

Countdown to 49 states?

The Hawaiian Kingdom Government is back up and running. This monarchy, deposed in 1898, rules from the Iolani Palace, in which Hawaii's last native queen ruled and was later imprisoned.
posted by baphomet at 4:51 PM PST - 80 comments

Philip Pullman's ideas behind His Dark Materials

Philip Pullman interviewed about the ideas behind "His Dark Materials" [YT,1 hour, South Bank Show,parts 2,3,4,5,6,7]. Inside, and hidden from those who don't want spoilers, are links relating to the ideas raised and about the books generally. [more inside]
posted by rongorongo at 4:40 PM PST - 85 comments

Clipperton or bust

1200 kilometers southwest of Acapulco lies the only atoll in the eastern Pacific: one of France's most isolated overseas possessions. First named for an English pirate/buccaneer/privateer, written about here by one John Harris in 1744, the island has changed hands numerous times: claimed by France as part of Tahiti, claimed by the US under the Guano Islands Act of 1856. The island remained uninhabited until 1906, when a British and Mexican mission began mining guano (still in demand today, though sources can now be found a little closer to home). The atoll was thought to have been polished off entirely by an earthquake rumored to have sunk the islands outright in August of 1909. [more inside]
posted by mdonley at 4:29 PM PST - 11 comments

It's Probably True!

Today we'll see Dave go back in time. Most of the retro Nickelodeon love goes to You Can't Do That On Television, but let us not forget about the show that gave us the Hurry-Up Machine, a pre-Full House Dave Coulier, Hern Burford, and the Burping Chili Men. It's Out of Control! [Previously] [more inside]
posted by Servo5678 at 3:21 PM PST - 29 comments

Delaying News in the Era of the Internet

Wikipedia Updater Fired For Scooping NBC on Tim Russert's Death -- "When Tim Russert collapsed ten days ago, his colleagues at NBC held off reporting the news for almost two hours so his family wouldn't hear about it from the media....The news appeared on Wikipedia 40 minutes before the NBC report, with all of the verbs in Tim's entry changed from present tense to past. It appeared on the New York Times's web site 5 minutes before the NBC story. It zipped around Twitter all afternoon. According to the New York Times, the person who updated the Wikipedia entry 40 minutes before NBC reported it worked at Internet Broadcasting Services, a company that provides web services to TV stations including NBC affiliates." [more inside]
posted by ericb at 2:26 PM PST - 75 comments

Breakdown

Breakdown. First-hand accounts of the impact and stigma of mental illness. Moving subject matter presented in a way that updates traditional newspaper reporting.
posted by GuyZero at 1:05 PM PST - 18 comments

Man, I really hated getting killed by The Farting Sluggoth

A stash of charmingly goofy adventure book covers from Christopher "MGK" Bird. [more inside]
posted by Pronoiac at 12:33 PM PST - 19 comments

Gaza: The Killing Zone

A Dispatches documentary Gaza: The Killing Zone shows the shocking reality of seemingly ordinary Palestinians caught in the crossfire between Hamas and Israeli forces. Feels almost like a sci-fi movie about some fictional totalitarian regime. Hard to believe it's their everyday life. WARNING: contains scenes of graphic violence, which you may find disturbing.
posted by Surfin' Bird at 9:45 AM PST - 65 comments

'zines v. 2.0?

MagCloud enables you to publish your own magazines. All you have to do is upload a PDF and they take care of the rest: printing, mailing, subscription management, and more.
posted by FunkyHelix at 9:13 AM PST - 43 comments

Doing something well for its own sake.

Read this excerpt of Richard Sennett's The Craftsman. Listen to him on the Diane Rehm show or peruse this interview with Laurie Taylor. Discuss.
posted by anotherpanacea at 7:43 AM PST - 25 comments

Autobiography of Read

Happy Birthday, Anne Carson! The iconoclastic modern poet who published the arresting, compulsively readable Autobiography of Red turned 57 this weekend. [more inside]
posted by zoomorphic at 7:27 AM PST - 9 comments

Times Archive,

Every issue of The Times published between 1785-1985, digitally scanned and fully searchable. (Via Wordorigins.org.)
posted by languagehat at 6:50 AM PST - 45 comments

A people too scared to vote.

Zimbabwe: Tsvangirai Withdraws MDC From 'Sham' Poll. Apparently he agrees with Mugabe's claim that only God can remove him from office. Prev Zim.
posted by allkindsoftime at 2:43 AM PST - 65 comments

Crack Lung

Amy Winehouse has Emphysema. The 24 year old artist, whose career has netted multiple awards but has often been overshadowed by her drug use, now faces a lung condition that can be slowed but never reversed, with effects ranging from shortness of breath to cyanosis and heart faliure.
posted by Artw at 1:47 AM PST - 293 comments

Phonographantasmascope

Record player + video camera = Phonographantasmascope, animator Jim LeFevre's extension of the zoetrope. "It is all live action and works by using the shutter speed of the camera rather than the rather irritating stroboscope methods other 3D Zoetropes use."
posted by nthdegx at 12:38 AM PST - 15 comments

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